Smith Stakes Claim as "Equity" Candidate With New List of Endorsements

Portland Mercury:

Jefferson Smith's mayoral campaign this morning will announce a package of new endorsements meant to bolster his credentials as the "equity" candidate in this fall's race. It's a theme he's been emphasizing since the primary, when he came out in support of the city's new Office of Equity of Human Rights—finally readying its first work plan more than a year after its controversial creation by Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Amanda Fritz. The list includes prominent members of the immigrant-rights community, including Kayse Jama, director of the Center for Intercultural Organizing and a Portland Peace Prize winner, and transit-activist the Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons. But it also, for good measure, includes the Democratic state legislative candidate who will succeed Smith in Salem, Jessica Vega Pederson, and two other Democratic nominees. Here's the list Smith's camp will send out: Kayse Jama, immigrant and refugee community advocateRev. Joseph Santos-Lyons, Asian Pacific Islander community advocate and anti-racism trainerTricia Tillman, health equity advocateDr. Thuy Tran, Parkrose School Board (personal endorsement)Jon Ostar, environmental justice advocateJessica Vega Pederson, Democratic nominee, HD 47Jeff Reardon, Democratic nominee, HD 48Jennifer Williamson, Democratic nominee, HD 36Andrew Riley, immigrant and refugee community advocate A release from Smith's campaign takes a very subtle poke at his rival, Charlie Hales, by also noting that the endorsers support Smith's stance on preserving service development charges—infrastructure fees developers must pay before winning permission to build big projects. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

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